At My Side
by In The Beginning
Summary: These past three months have been unbearable. I need you with me, Val... I need you at my side. OneshotMarkusVal


(Emo oneshot. Wheee!

I figure after I do my Pre-Cal homework for the day during Christmas break, I'm just going to... well, first I'm going to shop. Then I'm going to WRITE. I will finish Life of Secrets... because Caught Unaware is pretty much finished already, and Sorcery of Salvation won't take much longer.

This coat is really warm.

Let's begin.

Markus, Val, Kanae Tsuji © Nintendo

Cassandra © Me)

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At My Side

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_I can't believe it took me this long to decide to do this..._

He sighed, sitting in his car, bathed in darkness, still warm despite the fact that he had turned off the engine over five minutes ago...

The rain continued to pour.

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_Get out, Markus-- get OUT!"_

_Angrily shoving Markus towards the door, Val felt her eyes threatening to pour angry tears... but she refused to let them fall._

_"Val, I'm not--!"_

_"I won't hear any of your denials!"_

_She shoved Markus outside, panting._

_"How can you expect me to believe that you're not cheating on me, when you've been getting calls from some-- some __**harlot**__ named Cassandra?! In my own house, too! Have you no decency?!"_

_Markus froze._

_"Val, there's a misunderstanding-- I'm not cheating on you with Cassandra--!"_

_"Like hell you're not!"_

_The door slammed shut._

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Markus glanced out the window.

Through the distortion caused by the falling rain, he could see a light coming from the home.

He briefly wondered if she would listen to him now...

There was one way to find out.

Markus exited the car, quickly becoming drenched with rainwater.

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_Her phone had rung seven times in the past three days... all the calls were from Markus. Every single one of them was from Markus._

_So was this one._

_Val refused to endure another pithy midnight message asking her to call him back, not when the weather was this bleak... her temper was short enough as it was._

_She unplugged the phone before promptly marching off to bed for the evening._

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She couldn't understand why she loved soap operas, considering all that had happened...

Nevertheless, Val continued to watch.

She supposed that she persisted because she wanted to be desensitized to heartbreak...

Val had gotten quite sick of crying herself to sleep.

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_It had taken an extraordinary amount of willpower not to call him, but Val arrived at Caduceus unaccompanied. An odd, experience, to be sure, but she wouldn't let her awkward feeling show..._

_"Dr. Blaylock, where have you been?!"_

_Val looked over to see Kanae Tsuji hurrying towards her, an impatient element in her stride._

_"Kanae? Is something wrong?"_

_"Is something-- YES, there's something wrong! We've been trying to reach you since midnight, and you haven't answered-- Markus was in a car accident!"_

_Val froze._

_"Wh-what...?!"_

_"We tried to call you with his phone because you'd recognize the number-- we needed your help at the scene! He'd been thrown from the vehicle..."_

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Markus stood in front of the front door, his face and hair streaked with rain, the heavy droplets slowly dripping onto his scarf and his coat.

He had tried to abandon his emotions...

But right now, Markus was positive that he could still feel nervousness.

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_It took two weeks for him to finally come out of the coma._

_The first thing Markus saw when he finally opened his eyes again was a light hand gently brushing his unkempt hair out of his face; the appendage quickly withdrew as he let out a tired groan._

_"You know, getting into car crashes and worrying your little sister is illegal in all fifty states."_

_As he finally placed the voice to a person he knew, Markus let a feeble smirk play at his lips._

_"Sorry, Cass... I'll try not... to do that again, then..."_

_Cassandra Vaughn smiled as her brother turned his head slowly towards her..._

_She didn't know that he was looking for her... for Val._

_But Val was nowhere in sight._

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The doorbell rang.

Val turned off the television before slowly getting up to answer the door.

_Who would come at this hour...?_

She opened the front door...

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_Three months had passed since the accident..._

_Only the conspicuous scar across his eye and their mutual silence left any sign of the feud that had ensued._

_Val had finally learned the true nature of Markus' relationship to Cassandra; her overwhelming shame had silenced her to the point that she could no longer speak to Markus without her guilt terrorizing her conscience. Fearing that her silence reflected hatred, Markus too was reluctant to begin a conversation..._

_Val walked into her office, sitting at her desk before carefully placing several files on the furniture..._

_A ruby rose rested on the mahogany wood, a thin ribbon with a note attached tied around the stem._

_Curious, Val delicately picked up the flower, reading the epistle..._

_**Happy Birthday, Valerie**_

_**--Markus**_

_The careful handwriting soon became gently smeared by quiet tears._

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"Hey, Val..."

They were the first words he had said to her in three months; it felt like it had been much longer than that...

Val fought back tears that threatened to fall from her eyes.

"He... hello, Markus. How are you...?"

"Good..."

An awkward silence unsettled them both.

"...I-I got the... the gift you gave me last week... for my birthday..."

"Ah... good..."

More silence...

"...? Val...?"

Val's previously dry face began to become stained with tears.

"M-Markus... I--"

With a choking sob, she stumbled forward, burying her face into Markus' coat as the tears rolled down her face, haphazardly throwing her arms around the dark-haired man in front of her.

"M-Markus, I... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry...!"

Carefully, Markus wrapped his arms around Val, stroking her back softly as he murmured quietly in her ear.

"Val... Val, it's okay... please... don't cry... it hurts to see you cry..."

"I can't help it," Val choked out, the rain flattening her wild brown hair. "Every time I see you... I can't h-help but think that i-if... if I had just _listened_ to you... t-to what you had to say... th-then none of this would have happened... and I don't know h-how I could p-possibly make it up t-to you..."

"Just... do one thing for me, Val. Just one..."

She slowly glanced up at Markus, her reddened eyes staring into his nervous hazel ones.

"What...?"

Markus paused.

"...stay with me."

"...w-what...?"

His hand slowly drifted up to Val's face, gently brushing away her tears with his rain-covered hand.

"These past three months have been unbearable," Markus began softly. "I need you with me, Val... I need you at my side. Please... tell me you'll stay with me..."

Val stood in shock...

Her hand slowly drifted towards her face, gently resting over Markus' as a shaky smile crept to her lips.

"A-alright, Markus... I... I'll stay with you..."

She hadn't seen a smile of any form on Markus' face in three months...

Until tonight.

And it immediately banished any thought of the incident from her mind.

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Markus woke up at six twenty-six when he felt something shifting next to him...

Opening his eyes revealed that the "something" was Val, loosely clinging to Markus in her sleep.

Markus smiled faintly before grabbing the blanket on top of the couch and draping it over himself and Val.

Why would he want to get up? Here she was, at his side again.

Things were okay again.

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(End oneshot.

Okay, just so you all know, is a fucking BITCH. This was going to be up LAST NIGHT.

Damn glitches with the system.

Please review!)


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